MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an active role in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer. The expression and biological function for miR-187 in gastric cancer remains unknow. In the present study, we demonstrated that miR-187 expression was increased in gastric cancer (GC) tissues and cells. Increased expression level of miR-187 was associated with adverse clinical features including tumor size, lymph metastasis and TNM stage, and decreased overall survival and disease-free survival of GC patients. Functionally, overexpression miR-187 could promote while inhibition of miR-187 could suppress, the proliferation, migration and invasion of GC cells in vitro. In vivo experiments showed that overexpression of miR-187 promoted the growth and lung metastasis of SGC-7901 cells in nude mice. Mechanically, we confirmed that FOXA2 was the downstream target of miR-187 in GC cells using luciferase assay, qRT-PCR and western blot analysis. Moreover, overexpression of FOXA2 abrogated the promoting effects of miR-187 overexpression on SGC-7901 cell proliferation, migration and invasion, while inhibition of FOXA2 reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-187 downregulation on these biological functions of AGS cells, suggesting that FOXA2 was a functional mediator of miR-187 in GC. Therefore, this study indicates that miR-187 is potentially a biomarker and treatment target for GC patients.